Fire-hydrant.



H. M. LOFTON.

FIRE HYDRANT.

APPLICATION HLED AUG.24. 1910.

1,178,588.. Patend Apr. 11,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

HERIBERT M; LOFTON, OF CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE.

FIRE-HYDRANT.

Specifieation of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

Application filed August 24, 1910. Serial No. 578,774.

To all witam it may Gomera Be it known thatI, Hnnsnar M. Lor'roN', a citizen ofj the United States, and a resident of Chattanooga, county of Hamilton, State of Tennessee, have invented an Improvement in F ire-Hydrants, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference to fire hydrants and consists of certain improvements which are fully set forth in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof.

The object of my invention is to provide a suitable construction of fire hydrant which will permit the seat ring of the main valve together with the main valve and drainage valve devices to be conveniently removed fromv the shoe and stock when necessary for repairs o-r otherwise, and more particularly my improvements are directed to the manner of securing the seat ring in position whereby it may be easily removed when desired.

My invention consists of certain features of construction for'securingthe above mentioned and other objects of-,invention and which features of construction are fully described hereinafter and particularly defined in the claims.

My improveinents will he better underlstood by reference to the drawings in which Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a fire hydrant embodyingmy invention; Fig. 2 i's a cross section of the same on line 00-01,' Fig. 3 is a plan view of the seat ring removedl; Fig. 4 is'a sectional elevation ofthe seat:V ring upon line 8-8 of Fig. 3; Fig.v 5 is a cross section of the hydrant on line z-z of Fig. 1 made upona larger scale; Fig. 6

z is a. cross section of the hydrant on line y-y of F-ig.` 1`; Fig. 7 is a view corresponding to Fig. 2 but showing a modified construction of seatring; and Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation ofthe modified form of seat ring.

`2 is the shoe having the inlet 3 and having its upper portion formed with a tubular aperture and horizontal fiange.

4;' is thestock ofthe hydrant and is flanged at the bottom, and these flanges of the stock and shoe are bolted together as indicated at 5 in Fig. 1.v

9 is a seat ring and is made annular and with a conical seat at the bottom for the main valve 16. The cylindrical outer surface near-the upper part of the seat ring. is

provided with an annular groove 11. from which eXtends inwardly a radial aperture 12 for draining the stock of waterV when the main valve is closed. The lower outer portion of the seat ring is shaped so as to provicle an'annular shoulder 9a, the said shoulder being undercut, as will be readily understood by referenceV to Fig. 4. The annular seat ring 9 fits into a cylindrical portionV of the aperture in the shoe which is arranged immediately above an annular inwardly directed fiangei 8 between which and the shouldered portion of the ring a gasket 21 of ductile metal may be clamped for forming a water tight joint. The inner surface of this cylindrical part of the shoe is preferpermitting the waste vwater to drain from the hydrant. The Vseat ring 9 has no screw threads upon its outer part for attaching it in the shoe so that it may be easily lifted from the shoe when it is desired to remove it 'for any cause. The seat ring is'clamped in position by means of clamping ring or bushing 10 which screws into the aperture ,in the shoe above the seat ring and presses down upon it to clamp the gasket 21 between said seat ring'and the fiange 8 of the shoe. This bushing 10 may be provided with upwardly extending lugs 15 by which it may be turned when being screwed in or out of position.

It willbe noted that the external diameter internal diameter of the screw threaded portion of the shoe so that the said 'seat ring is notl interfered with by the screw threads.

It will also be noted that the seat ring is not required to be rotated during the rotation of the clamping ring or bushing and consequently there is no injury to the p'acking gasket 21 such as would be liable in case of the rotation of the seat ring. Furthermore, as the screw threaded portion to be unscrewed is considerably less than would be the case if the screw threads extended downward upon the seat ring, there is not as `much resistance to the removal of the clampmg ring and seat ring as is the case in those are in one integral piece and screwed into the shoe.

The undercut shoulder 9a of the seat ring causes the gasket to become attached to the seat ring after the latter has been clamped into position within the shoe so that when the seat ring is removed, the gasket is drawn up with the seat ring instead of remaining in the stock or becoming injured by partly adhering to the stock and pa-rtly to the seat ring. This is an important feature in that it removes all difliculty with respect to the repacking of the seat ring when the hydrant is in place in the ground.

16 is the main valve and is carried by the valve stem 20 which is raised and lowered by the wrenched nut and sleeve 22 carried by the head 4a of the hydrant stock. The main valve seats upon the conical seat at the bottom of the seat ring and is provided with a top plate havingtwo upwardly directed guide wings 18, one of which may be provided with a packing strip 19. These guide wings 18 are guided in vertical guide grooves or notches 13 upon the inner surface of the annular seat ring and the distance across between the outer surfaces of the wings is approximately equal to the internal diameter of the clamping' ring or bushing 10 so that the latter may be rotated without rotating the main valve. The radial drainage aperture 12 opens into one of these guide notches 13 so that the packing strip 19 of the guide wing 18 may coperate with said aperture to seal it whenever the main valve is lowered. In the position shown in Fig. 1, the main valve is closed and the water may drain fromthe stock 4 around the head 17 and the Wing 18 and out by the drainage aperture. When the main valve is lowered to a slight extent, the radial drainage aperture 12 is sealed and remains sealed until the main valve is again closed upon its seat.

In those cases where there are a. plurality of nozzles 23 and 23aL opening from the stock, it is customary to provide shut-ofi:1 valves so that the hydrant may be employed with one or more nozzles or operation and also to permit the adding or removing of one or more lines of hose without interfering with the remaining nozzles in connection with the performance of their function. I have shown the nozzle 23aI of smaller diameter than the nozzle 23, but this is not essential. Referring to the specific construction employed in these cut-off' valves, I so form the brass nozzles 23 that their inner ends 28 are fianged and form fiat seats for the cut-off valves 29 which are arranged upon the inside of the stock. These nozzles 23 extend through apertures in the stock and are held in position by metal packing 27 arranged in an annular groove 24 about the nozzle and formed on the stock itself. This packng 27 is ntroduced after the nozzle 23 has been placed in position in contact with the closed cut-off valve 29 so that it will be retained in proper position to coperate with said valve 29 while permitting the latter to be raised or lowered at will. The cutoff valve 29 is a gate valve and is guided in Vertical guide ways 32 upon the inside of the stock, and has at each side of its rear, inclined guide surfaces 26 which coperate with corresponding inclined guides 25 forming the lower part of the Vertical parts 32. When the valve is down, the inclined guides 25 force it against the seat 28 of the nozzle 23, as will be readily understood. The valve 29 is raised and lowered by means of a screw threaded shaft 30 working in a screw threaded aperture 31 in the shut-OE valve 29 and this screw threaded stem is provided at the top with an annular collar 33 and a wrench receiving terminal 35. The collar 33 rests upon a shoulder in the upper part of the head 4a and is clamped down by an annular bushing nut 36. Packing 34 below the collar provides a water tight joint. By rotating the shaft 30, the gate or cut-off valve may be raised or lowered and operated independently of the main valve. Each of the several nozzles have their own individual cut-off valve and consequently the description above given will apply to each of them. The guides 32 and 25 are cast in with the hydrant stock or barrel, as will be understood by reference to Fig. 5, thereby avoiding expensive machine work. As the| nozzles 213 are adjusted to the valves 29 when lowered and in the custody of the guides,.it is evident that the necessity for making very accurate guides is overcome and subsequently the eXpense of providing the cut-off valves is materially reduced.

Instead of providing the seat ring 9 with the annular groove 11 and also providing an annular groove 6 in the stock, these parts may be simplified, as indicated in Figs. 7 and 8 in which the annular groove in the seat ring is omitted and a vertical groove 4-1 provided instead. This modified seat ring 9 1 is then dropped into position within the shoe and is required to assume a proper circumferential radial drainage aperture 12 with respect to the drainage aperture 7 in the shoe by means of a pin 40 which is driven through the shoe, as indicated in'Fig. 7 and which provides a guide to receive the groove 41 so that the seat ring cannot take any but the proper position. This construction is somewhat less eXpensive than the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 4, but also embodies the advantageous feature of the seat ring being separate from the clamping bushing and which is the more essential part of my invention.

In this application, I do not claim the construction of the discharge nozzles or valves therefor, as the same Will form subjectmatten of a! separate application. Neither." do L clainil in this application the featureN of'v the undercut portion 9a of; the valve seatring. with the: gasket 21 which; becomes penmanently attached in theundercut: portion;l by' the, clamping' action in assembling` which; Iz have foundz excellently, adapted inA commercial practice to the purposes thereof', and; while I pnefer the; details here shown, I do not limit myself thereto, as. they;v may be modified without' departing` from the spirit of the invention. i

Having now describedf my; inventiomwhat I claim as new and desire to securefby Letters Patent is 12 a fire hydra-nt, a shoe having at its upper end a cylindrical aperture, and a stock secured to the shoe, combined with a'valve seat ring secured to the cylindrical aperture of the shoe and having at the bottom a valve seat and also provided on its inner Vertical surface with Vertical guide notches extending the full height of its inner surface and down to the seat said notches presenting lateral parallel Shoulders wholly outside of the diameter of the tubular water passage, and also having a drainage aperture through the Vertical wall of one of the notches and intermediate of its upper and lower notches, a valve below the seat ring and means to Vertically reciprocate it, and Vertical guides fitting into the guide notches of the seat ring and movable with the valve and its operating means said guides acting to guide the main Valve and prevent its rotation and one of said Vertical guides also acting as a drainage valve for the drainage aperture.

2. In a fire hydrant, a shoe having at its upper end a cylindrical aperture provided at its lower part with an annular flange and at its upper part with an internal screw threaded portion of larger internal diameter and also with a drainage passage through its unthreaded portion, combined with a seat ring having its body fitting the cylindrical aperture between the annular flange and the screw threacled portion and having a Vertical guide groove on its inner surface and a radial ,drainage port opening into said groove, and said seat ring also provided with a downward annular portion extending into the flange and having a conical Valve seat on its lower part, a gasket between the seat ring and annular fiange of the shoe, a clamping bushing in the form of a flangeless ring of uniform diameter screwed into the screw threaded portion of the aperture of the shoe without restriction except by the seat ring said bushing pressing down upon the seat ring to clamp it upon; the gasket, a.. main' Valve below' the seat ring and seating: upwardly upon the valve seat on the bottom part of the same and t providedV with a: sliding drainage valve fittingtheventical groove inz the seat ring andv directly controllingv the radial drainage pont., a stocksecured to the shoe inclosing the` bushing and seat'v ring and; Wholly independentof them, andf a Valve stem` to operate beddedl in andfisecured to the annular shouli dered`= and grooved portion of the seat ring so as to be lifted with the seat ring when it is withdrawn from the shoe, a flangeless clamping bushing screwed into the upper portion of the cylindrical aperture in the shoe for clamping the seat ring down upon the bushing, and a Valve seating upon the seat ring and having guide wings guided in the guide notches of the seat ring.

4;. In a fire hydrant, a shoe having at its upper end a cylindrical aperture said aperture provided at its lower part with an annular fiange and at its upper part with an internal screw threaded portion of larger internal diameter, and a stock for the shoe combined with an annular seat ring snugly fitting the cylindrical aperture between the annular fiange and screw threaded portion and having Vertical guide notches upon its inner surface, a fiangeless clamping busbing wholly independent of the stock screwed into the screw threaded portion of the aperture and pressing down upon the seat ring, and a main valve seating upon the under side of the seat ring and having guide wings guided in the guide notches on the seat ring.

5. In a fire hydrant, a shoe having at its upper end a cylindrical aperture said aperture provided at its lower part with an annular fiange and at its upper part with an internal screw threaded portion of larger internal diameter, and a stock for the shoecombinedv with an annular seat ring snugly fitting the cylindrical aperture between the annular flange and screw threaded portion and having Vertical guide notches upon its inner surface one of which has a radial drainage port, a fiangeless clamping bushing wholly independent of the stock screwed into the screw threaded portion ofl the aperture and pressing down upon the seat ring, and a main Valve' seating upon the under side of the seat ring and having guide wings guided in the guide notches on the seat ring one of said Wings acting as a waste Valve for the radial drainage port in the seat ring.

6. In a fire hydrant, a removable seat ring for the main Valve having a ring shaped body cylindrical'upon its outer surface and provided on said outer surface With an annular drainage groove and also having a radiai di'ainage apertui'e through the Wall of the body into the annular drainage' groove terininating in a Vertical guide.

grooveand further having its lower inner surface made conicai to provide a Valve seat and its outer surface furnished With a verticai slot. o

7. In a fire hydrant, the shoe having an aperture at its upper portion said aperture formed with a cylindrical lower portion and a screW threaded upper portion, combined With a stock seoured to the shoe, an annular Valve seat ring fitting the cylindrical lower i portion of the aperture in the shoe and pro- Vided With guide notches upon itsinner surface said seat movable from the shoe Without turning, a fiangeless clamping bushing Wholly independent of Vthe stock and screwed into the screw threaded upper portion of the apertui'e in the shoe to hold the seat ring in position, and a Valve piece seating upon the under portlon of the seat rlng and having parts guided by the guiding I Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressng the flommissoner of Patents. Washington. D. 0. 

